Join The Female Ninja Cause
by kathlaida-princess
Summary: Spring is here, but not everyone feels very youthful. Poor Moegi wishes she could break away while Hanabi wants to help herself in. I suck at summaries. Hanagi Friendship. B-day fic.


**JOIN THE FEMALE NINJA CAUSE**

**by kathlaida-princess**

**Summary: **Spring is here, but not everyone feels very youthful. Poor Moegi wishes she could break away while Hanabi wants to help herself in. I suck at summaries. Hanagi Friendship. B-day fic.

**Disclaimer: **As usual, none of the characters are mine, Kishimoto owns them all.

**Author's Notes: **Hello, dear readers! This here is a story written for kosmonauttihai's birthday on the 16th, regarding a very interesting double she has discovered by accident and that has managed to contaminate me with its sheer adorableness.

I hope you can be caught up too, because I can promise more of these two to show up in the future :D

* * *

There was a faint scent of plenitude lazily fluttering across the afternoon atmosphere. Light dripped abundantly to the green ground below, from the radiant ocean of air above. The breeze pushed baby clouds forward in its leisure path, the perfume of newly-blossomed flowers twirling with it.

The Leaf Village yawned and stretched to live the sunny, sleepy day. It was only the first week of Spring, and already the locals basked in the awakened heat. Shops were opened, but its owners were lost in daydream. Travelers sat under the shade of rustling trees, under the soporific effect of their blossoms. Even shinobi were given a day off their duties, which their leader spent closed inside a building bustling with the clinks and motions of unfortunate luckgames.

But not everyone was enjoying their time as much as the Fifth Hokage, not every ninja was using their pause.

Bellowing shouts were quickly carried from the training fields, first as mumbling whispers, then as angry threats and finally as enraged screams, disturbing the sacred peace in loud, ominous ripples. All of those sounded incredibly young.

The source of such ruckus became clearer by the decibel.

A brunette boy of twelve or thirteen, hair sticking up and a long scarf briskly swaying with each sudden movement, was shouting his lungs out at the boy in front of him, who struggled to reply just as annoyingly, big, round glasses occasionally slipping to the tip of his nose, almost joining the trail of mucus eternally dangling from there. How precious.

It had been an impossible day to handle both Konohamaru and Udon, one wanting too much and the other aiming for so little, and it all fell upon the last member of that group of three.

The only girl in that group of three.

Moegi.

Standing between the two boys, the young girl felt a lump of patience fall away from her with every childish insult they traded. She sighed. She shouldn't have agreed to this, not when the day was so pleasant outside the thick bubble of oppression she was trapped in. But now the dice were thrown, and with them a luck comparable to Tsunade's, so she had to endure it.

Master Ebisu should be there with them, she regretted to admit. Konohamaru's insatiable hunger to become stronger in record time led to these extra training sessions, but "the noble grandson" would forget poor Udon couldn't quite follow him as quickly as he wished. And the girl just wanted, for once, to have a chance at doing something useful herself.

As the wannabe Seventh Hokage threw a very unpleasant comment at Udon's lack of nasal hygiene, Moegi wondered why the heck there were no teams with two girls. At least she would have some help to bring sense to these aimless arguments… She sighed once more, and the last bit of patience gave way to growing wrath when Udon responded with an unnecessary comment regarding Konohamaru's stupid adoration for Naruto.

But it was only when words turned to one of those harmless yet annoying fights boys usually have at that age that Moegi exploded, determinately diving in and separating opposite pairs of flailing arms with strong, harsh hands.

"I've had it with you two!" And it was at her angry words, rather than at her actions, that the two other kids got confounded. "You come here to train, and you end up messing it all up!" And such strength restraining her colleagues! The prologue of yet another Tsunade… "Have you even thought about what _I_ wanted to do today? Oh, never mind… I'm off…"

And she was. Drawing away from the boys as fast as she had closed in, the young girl turned around and determinately walked out of the training area, the twin braids springing from the top of her head swaying with each skipping step. She heard a soft, "Moegi…" going after her, pleaded in the melodious voice of Konohamaru, but she kept going. After a minute, she was away from the oppression and inside the silent harmony that filled that beautiful day.

The young shinobi's pace slowed down, now that she was… safe. Even her anger started to decrease under the effects of early Spring joy. The remnants of it came out in occasional sighs, as Moegi's perception turned inside herself and she wondered what she was to do with her useless life.

It wasn't like she _hated_ her team, not at all! She had deep admiration for Konohamaru, for his exponentially growing strength. She felt his pain when his grandfather died, was there for him as he slowly released his silent, angry grief. He would become Hokage, she was sure of it. And Udon was the dopeyest but sweetest kid, doing the most considerate things for her when she was in need. Not to mention his genius, which would surely lead him to a brilliant career as a teacher. She was actually very _happy _with her team. She just… "I'm just the one who will never account to anything…" she concluded in a sad whisper. Someone had to hold those promising boys up, at the cost of self sacrifice.

However, soon more sparring noises began once again spoiling the peaceful environment. Moegi, annoyed once more, wondered who it was this time, without noticing that her feet had already brought her far away in her thoughtful trance, all the way to the training area of the Hyuuga Estate.

Indeed the path was much better paved, and a tall fence adorned with blossoming hedges surrounded an imposing, important (yet not very beautiful) building. A sting of perhaps curiosity, perhaps something not very noble, made the young girl deftly climb up said fence, taking an eager peek at the other side.

The culprit of yet another round of ungodly training, as Moegi came to see, was the youngest of the Hyuugas, the early prodigy, Hanabi. The girl, not older than herself, was fiercely battling an adult that wasn't unlike her at all, both of them moving in harmonious yet fiery dynamic. The two of them maneuvered their wrists and fingers with uncanny ability, their long curtain of dark hair following every movement gracefully. Their trademark pale eyes were swelled, furious. Here and there, some depressions drilled the otherwise undisturbed ground, where Spring carried on with its unworried duties.

Moegi almost remembered something about the first week of Spring and the blessing that was the youngest Hyuuga's life, but all that was lost in the reality that Hanabi was being such a challenge to her own father! The braided girl now felt envious before yet another person with a brilliant future ahead. She wanted to sulk, but her attention was too drawn to the impressive battle. She must be already training for the upcoming Chuunin exams, she was sure.

Not long after, Hanabi landed a hit so powerful that her opponent vaporized to a small cloud of white smoke. So it was a clone of her father, after all. But still…

The Hyuuga girl took her time recovering from the challenge, panting hard, her face half-covered by her straying hair. Moegi did not know why she had decided to stay a little longer, but it was a good thing she did, for promptly she heard the other's voice call, "It… it must be pleasant, having all this free time for yourself…"

Moegi was startled by her words, and realized, through the way they were spoken, so hesitantly, that Hanabi was not recovering at all: she had been gathering courage to speak up instead. She probably didn't speak much to anyone… At this, the trespasser blushed and saw no further reason to hide anymore. She dropped to the neat garden and walked to its young owner.

She did not apologize, "It must be even better to be as strong as you are…" Moegi retorted instead, she too a bit unsure of what to say. "That was an awesome battle back there!"

The reply made Hanabi silent, and she merely stared meaningfully into the other girl's eyes, white pools of raw, uncertain emotion. She _was_ breathing fast, Moegi noted… Perhaps she was really tired too, after all.

And maybe that was the reason of her suggestion, "Do you want to come for a walk? You look like you need some rest…" That, and she still had the annoying matter of Spring plus Hanabi to remember…

The young Hyuuga was surprised, and she had to carefully consider the proposal. She was supposed to be training for the entire day, as tasked by her father, and she didn't want to disappoint him. But Moegi was offering her a rare chance to accomplish another mission, this one self-imposed and equally important. One of getting to work on her weak social skills.

The time that took her to reply made Moegi feel she had been inappropriate, so she began with, "Oh, it's okay if you don't wan-…" but she got herself interrupted by Hanabi's assuring words, "No, I don't mind going with you. Just a little bit won't do any harm." She even attempted a smile.

With this, the braided girl returned the smile and nodded, motioning then to get out of the mansion through the same path she used to get in. Perhaps the Byakugan carrier found it odd to exit her own house in such fashion, but she did not speak a word about it. When both girls were out, Moegi led the way to the center of the village.

The first steps of their walk were awkward, to say the least. Hanabi had no idea of how to strike an interesting conversation and Moegi, usually much more outgoing in these situations, didn't know how to do that with _her_, someone she had grown to admire just as much as dear Konohamaru over the time. These things were so much simpler when they were younger…

The young Hyuuga disguised her nerves, forced her hands open and rested by her sides. But it was her, in a surge of inspiration, the first to talk, "I think… I think you're much stronger than you consider yourself to be…" This surprised the other girl immensely. A compliment? Wow... Hanabi hesitantly took a few glances at her as she thought of a follow up. "You and your friends… you seem to be very… fun together…"

Moegi let out a chuckle, and for once she forgot the small divergence she had with the two boys earlier. "Aw, we do have loads of fun together! Our favorite part is making fun of Master Ebisu, of course…" she confessed in a whisper.

"Quite comprehensible," Hanabi said and giggled. "I've heard he is quite the closet pervert…"

And from then on, conversation flowed increasingly easier, first on a reply-to-your-reply basis, and then with the both of them constantly adding new subjects to their speech.

As they arrived at the center of the village, Moegi was able to drag the girl to the ice cream stand, and the two of them left it with master-pieces in hand. Hanabi was obviously unused to the treat, but she proved once more to be a wonderful student as she quickly adapted to the new situation, enjoying the ice cream just as much as Moegi. She wondered what her father would say if he saw her like that, and for once she didn't care.

But the two girls' conversation wasn't all laughter. Once they were powered up enough to speak further about their worries, they returned to their own dilemmas, Moegi confessing that she still felt powerless and unable to change her situation, Hanabi worried that she couldn't even comfort the girl beside her with kind words. However, it turned out that just talking was doing wonders in healing them, so with the talking they carried on…

They finished their ice creams while the young Hyuuga sadly spoke of her father's pressure, of how it certainly improved her worth but drastically injured all other aspects of her childhood. "I don't want to be like my sister…" she confessed, "always fainting before the person I love, although I know Hinata is not to blame for the shyness of her personality…" She nibbled the rest of the cookie from her cone, "I love training with my father, and want nothing else than make him proud of me… but I wish I didn't have to miss out as much… I don't want to be just a warrior, not even being able to speak with the people I fight for…"

Moegi listened to all this attentively, and though she offered no words other than her own woes, there was no selfishness in this exchange, there was pure worry expiation instead, relief in understanding.

"I will have to look after those two my entire life…" the braided girl carried on, the two of them now cozily sat on the top of a brick wall, legs lazily swaying back and forth. "And I can't be mad at that, because I love working with them, but… I wish there was something left for me too…"

The two girl's problems were told one by one, as time passed by. Most of the times, they were almost opposite of each other, but equally serious and able to put an unnecessary strain upon what could be two brilliant careers as shinobi. But there was a solution to that… Amidst their teenage angst and frustrations, something could be done to make both girls happier… and it was Moegi the first to realize it.

The idea came to her indeed like an electric light bulb snapping to life in a dark room. In a moment of silence, she saw it clearly in her head, and she now knew she had to tell it, she was too involved not to. She turned to Hanabi and spoke with an excited smile, "What if… what if we made a deal? I train with you, and you walk with me more often! You'd meet all kinds of new friends and I would learn something to let me be better… and then we could be the most kickass girl ninjas ever! What do you think?"

The other girl actually began beaming at the beginning of Moegi's outburst, and as she carried on, it did sound like a great idea, one that had her immediate approval. She laughed and nodded enthusiastically, and while a certain, "Let's do that!" came as a reply, she held out her right hand, which Moegi shook with energetic grip (even this gesture felt so much improved from the young Hyuuga's part!). It was done then. Gladly done.

After this, the reports of woes and troubles were replaced by an infinite listing of fantastic plans for their bright arrangement, Moegi being more participative, of course, but Hanabi embracing and supporting all her ideas happily. They got up and resumed their walking, but the rest of their time together was cut short when Hanabi's father himself showed up.

Both girls then felt a bit guilty for having escaped, but since the young Byakugan yielder seemed undisturbed by this appearance, Moegi took it that she thought all the deal-stuff was well worth being caught. And that made her happy.

And it was while Hanabi said goodbye with solemn words and a small smile that the braided girl remembered all about this Spring day and the girl before her. As soon as she took her first step to leave, Moegi sprung up and pulled her into a childish bear hug, feeling quite silly as she wished, "Happy birthday, Hanabi! Sorry I only remembered it now!" But, by the expression on her face as she let go, Hanabi herself seemed to have forgotten it too… _Now_ Moegi was very glad she had dragged her along all afternoon.

"Thank you," were her only words, more than enough when compared to the light making her expression glow. "See you very soon, I hope!" And off she went, following her father, who looked quite befuddled but at the same time so very relieved that his baby daughter now would always have at least one good friend to lean on.

Moegi watched them both go, the prospect of meeting this girl more often making her smile. That, and their immense co-owned project of win! When there was no more Hyuuga hair in sight anymore, she too decided to leave, perhaps even go back to the training area…

She now felt bad for having screamed at her poor companions, and now that she was sure everything would be okay, for herself and her new friend, she would apologize to them with tons and tons of ice cream!

* * *

And that's it…

Hanabi's birthday is on the 27th March, in case you were wondering.

I hope you enjoyed this!

kathlaida-princess logging out…


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